ReThink Authority
by KawaiiIruka
Summary: Time skips forward a lot to me in the episode Question Authority, these are my ideas of what might have happened during those times.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this piece

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this piece. It was something that I had wanted to do ever since I first watched 'Question Authority'. To me it seemed like there were a lot of times when they jumped forward in time. I decided I wanted to write what I think might have happened in between the scenes we see in the series.

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Justice League, or anything DC related.

Re-Think Authority

Chapter One

_"Those things you're afraid of will never happen here. I won't let them."_

Superman had never scared him into physically reacting before, almost no one had. Yet when the man of steel had touched him his already panicking mind had invoked the flight response and he had reacted, by jerking away.

Superman had promised, but how sure was he that Superman would keep his word? After all, no one affected Superman like Lex Luthor, just look at what he had done to Lexor City. Something had to be done and yet it looked like he couldn't count on the League to do it.

His mind was racing as he climbed the apartment fire escape as silently as possible. What could be done? Who would do it? The thoughts did not rest even as he slipped through the window into Helena's living room and crept into her bedroom. He didn't have to worry about waking her as he opened the door. It was a little known fact that despite their awareness during the day most heroes slept like the dead at night. As far as he knew, Batman was the exception.

The time on the clock read 4:30, meaning that she had been asleep for thirty minutes since she normally returned from her patrol at four am. And from the look of things, she had arrived home, fell into bed, and went straight to sleep. She hadn't even taken off her boots! Smiling under his mask he removed his gloves and set to work making sure his girlfriend slept comfortably.

_What will I do about Luthor?_

He was careful not to wake her as he removed her boots and tossed them into the secret compartment where she hid her vigilante gear. Her belt, her cape, her gloves, and finally her mask quickly followed her boots. After making sure everything was inside he closed the compartment and sat down next to her on the bed. As he stroked her cheek he wondered, What would happen to her if the apocalypse happened? He cared for her more than he had ever cared for anyone, it was hard to believe sometimes that she was really with him, but she was and she made him happier than he had ever been before.

_What can I do about Luthor?_

He remembered their first date. It had been that night on the docks when he had admitted to liking her she had grabbed him by the tie and kissed him! Through his mask! He had been so shocked that he had let her lead him back to his car and drive them to an expensive looking Italian restaurant.

_What must I do about Luthor?_

It had been an interesting experience, seeing the reaction of staff and customers as the two walked in. On in a leotard with no stomach and thigh high boots, the other having no face. At first the waiter had been reluctant to let them in but after a few quick words in Italian from Helena he showed them to a table and took their orders. They had talked about many things that night, their new relationship, his theories and what this would mean to someone wanting to hurt them. She had looked so serious as she leaned forward and asked him, "Is it really safe for us to eat out in public like this? Now all of our enemies are going to know a weakness that we have. We're both in danger now, maybe more than we were before. They could go after one of us to get to the other" He was sure that if they had not been in public she would have looked more worried but here she looked so confidante, even as she spoke those words, that she inspired his reaction.

He had looked her square in the eye and replied, "That's all right. I trust that you'll always be there to rescue me." She had stared at him in silence for a moment before a beautiful smile captured her features and her laugh filled the air.

"You've got an eccentric charm about you Q. I like it, you're cute," she had said as they left. He stared at her for a moment before she also said, "At least personality wise, who knows, you may actually be the ugliest guy of all time!" With that she kissed him again and was gone slipping into the darkness of Gotham.

_There is only one option, no other way._

Smiling down at her sleeping form he leaned over and planted a kiss on her temple. She was beautiful, she was his, and she was all he had ever wanted. Now, he was leaving her. He had never even showed her his face, he had always imagined they would have more time and she never seemed to mind kissing him. What had she said? It was 'kinky'. He let out a quiet laugh and was about to rise when he heard it.

"Q," she said it so quietly and sleepy that he had thought she had woken up but seeing her eyes still closed he decided she was talking in her sleep. "Q, I love you." If anyone had been watching they wouldn't have been able to see the sad smile he gave as he brushed her hair from her face and replied, "My real name is Vic, Vic Sage, and I love you too Helena."

He rose then with a new determination. He would not let the woman he loved be destroyed by an apocalypse that he could prevent. This beautiful woman who loved him despite all his quirks and flaws. He left through the door and strode down the hallway with a new purpose, new confidence and new determination now surrounding the only thing on his mind.

_For the best of the world, the League, Superman and for Helena it cannot end any other way. I must kill Lex Luthor._

A/N: The first chapter. Takes place in between the times we see Q leaving Superman and showing up in Luthor's office. If you liked it drop me a review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Second Chapter, I'm trying to get these all out as fast as possible, otherwise I'll never finish

A/N: Second Chapter, I'm trying to get these all out as fast as possible, otherwise I'll never finish. Takes place after Q disappears but before Helena goes after Jimmy. Also for an AWESOME interpretation of how she captured Jimmy go read MeraNova's Baiting the Man of Steel.

Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing, just my own little ideas.

Re-Think Authority

Chapter Two

Helena Bertinelli did not take kindly to being ignored. Especially by her own boyfriend! However this was not the first time this had happened. She was starting to get used to Q's work habits. In other words, obsess over some small snippet of information until it gave him all it's secrets. Usually she had to force her way into his Hub City apartment and steal his attention, by any means necessary.

She was aware of the other Justice League women's opinion of her Q, after all, not many tried to hide it. But she didn't mind his mask just because she couldn't see his expressions didn't mean he didn't have any. She had become an expert in these past few months of deciphering Q-speak, as she liked to call it. It was all in the slightest movements of his body language. When he reacted he never reacted much, so it was hard to see. But she felt that she had gotten it down pat now.

She had known when she saw him two days ago that something was wrong. He was acting differently; he was projecting his feelings. Not hiding them behind his mask like he normally did. Then he had run away from her and she hadn't seen him since. So she waited, watching the fake video of Superman frying Luthor over and over again, trying to see what he had seen. But she hadn't seen anything and after two days of waiting she had given up and started searching for him.

The streets of Hub City were some of the worst in the United States, some even compared them to be as bad or worse as Gotham. However, Gotham was Huntress's playground so she knew how to handle herself. So she had stalked the streets for two days and still not found her faceless prey and by that point she knew something was terribly wrong. It was time to get in touch with the Justice League. But how?

A/N: This wasn't as long as I would like to have hoped. But I am satisfied with it. Again if you liked it go ahead and review and no flames please, they burn. Ouchies!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is probably the most graphic chapter that I will write

A/N: This is probably the most graphic chapter that I will write. It takes place right after Luthor captures Q and first hands him over to Cadmus.

Disclaimer: I am making no money from this…sadly.

Re-Think Authority

Chapter Three

His head was still reeling from being tossed into Luthor's aquarium, from the other side of the room. How was it possible? All his research confirmed that Luthor was a normal human being, he was supposed to have cancer, he should have been able to kill him. Yet when Luthor attacked him he showed signs of super strength that he should not have had. And he was still showing the signs.

He was almost positive had he had lost and thus swallowed at least one tooth. His mouth was full of the taste of blood. He could feel it running down the back of his head and down his chin. The pain that felt was immense, he was sure that Luthor was trying very hard not to kill him now. Of course Luthor sent him flying into very solid objects and left him seeing stars but he didn't punch him directly, just slaps. Of course, this also could have simply been a humiliation tactic.

Luthor was currently sitting in a black leather chair sipping a glass of wine, staring at him as he lay on the floor where Luthor had left him beaten and bruised and unable to move. He was sure that he was lying in a pool of his own blood, he certainly felt like he had lost enough of it. In a daze he was watching the shark circle the cracks that were slowly spilling water out of its tank, as if it wondered, 'What is going on here?'

His eyes were drawn back to Luthor as he stood and walked over to him. He was smiling, the sick demented smile of a madman, and for once Vic was scared of another human being. Normally he wasn't even scared of The Batman, but that smile showed his future. A future of pain, misery and ceaseless torture and it terrified him. He tried to push himself into a sitting position, tried to crawl away, but Luthor's foot stomped down on his chest and he smashed the wineglass against the broken desk.

"Okay conspiracy buff, I've given you enough time to regain your senses. What information did you find? Other than the video footage of the Lords Superman killing the other me that is." Vic stared ahead not replying trying to ignore it all and it worked for awhile, before he felt the sharp piece of glass stab into his shoulder. The pain made him flinch and brought his attention back to Luthor who pulled the glass out of his shouldre and dragged it down the side of his neck saying, "Does the Justice League even pay you for all the work you do? I could pay you, more money than you've ever had, on a weekly basis. If you would just sing like that Black Canary and spill everything you found." Then Luthor had a thought, "You even managed to get through my security without getting caught or setting off any alarms, you could probably bring down the Watchtower's security easily couldn't you." He smiled, "All right Question, just sing for me and I'll get you a doctor, I'll stop hurting you and all you have to do is work for me."

Vic stared into Luthor's eyes. The man was lying. He knew it. Finally he decided to speak. Of course, it came out as a cough first, due to the blood that was in his mouth and throat but finally he managed to choke out, "If I could sing like Black Canary, I would have blasted you out a window when you first walked in."

Luthor's eyes narrowed and he curled his hand into a fist. With his other hand he grabbed Vic by his shirt and pulled him forward whispering violently to him, "If that's the way you want to do this, so be it." The punches fell quickly and powerfully and it wasn't long before he slipped into a peaceful oblivion.

When she got the call from Lex to come into Cadmus headquarters Amanda Waller never expected to see the battered and beaten form of a Justice League member. Especially The Question, the one League member that she had been trying to track down and capture herself since she had gotten word about his theft of secret files that could endanger Cadmus. However her surprise did not mean she was disappointed, she was ecstatic, she only had one concern. "Do the rest of the League know that we have him?"

Luthor had laughed and explained the situation to her then. That Question had come to him in hopes to assassinate him and hopefully stop the coming apocalypse predicted in her computer simulations. It was unlikely that any League members knew what he had gone to do, they would have tried to stop him.

Amanda was pleased; they would have at least a little time to 'extract' the information that he had stolen from them. However in the mean time, she was wondering about his mask. He was sitting slumped in a chair, with his hands tied behind his back and his feet to the chair legs, she couldn't tell if he was awake or not.

"What is his mask made of? Why haven't you removed it yet?" She asked as she ran her hand over the mask feeling for texture, it felt like normal skin. Were they sure it was a mask? She snatched away her hand and moved backwards startled at the voice that seemed to come from no where.

"I don't know if you think this is romantic, but I'm not sorry to say that I have a girlfriend. And she won't hesitate to kick your ass." He sat up straight staring straight at his captors, giving the impression that he had already surveyed the area. Well, maybe straight at them, for all they knew he could have been looking anywhere. Luthor replied first.

"Yes, I know of her, Huntress from Gotham right? Well, I have some friends in Gotham who owes me some favors. If you don't cooperate with us I'm sure that I'll be able to cash in on those favors." The threat was blatant and beneath his mask Vic's eyes narrowed and his mind began shifting through all possible solutions before deciding upon one.

"Your friends won't be able to get to her. She's strong, she can take care of herself. But even if she can't she's friends with at least two members of the Batclan. She will be fine." Luthor smirked at that and decided to switch back to a different topic.

"This mask of yours. How do you take it off? I've tried everything short of setting you on fire and nothing has worked. What is it made of?" Vic said nothing at first, simply continued observing his surroundings. It looked like you basic cliché police drama interrogation room, it even had the two way mirror. It wasn't until Luthor backhanded him across the room did he decide to answer.

"Well Luthor, it's simple really. This is no mask. I have no face, my mother was so ashamed of me that she hid me away right after birth. Being hidden away from the world like that has scarred me for life. Which is why I am the crack pot that I am today." He considered laughing at them, after all. He was going to die anyway. There was no way the League would bust him out. He was sure by now that Cadmus operated directly with government consent. He was a prisoner of the government, breaking him out could be considered an act of treason. It could trigger the end results of Mrs. Waller's simulations. There was no way they would do that. He was going to die here, all alone. But he knew when he set out on this journey that he wouldn't return. Helena would probably mourn him for awhile, but she would move on, find another man. A sane man who would always be there for her. He tried to ignore the stabs of jealousy that rose in his heart at those thoughts. But there was nothing he could do anymore, nothing but egg on his captors and hope for a swift accidental death at Luthor's super powered hands.

A/N: Well, I really liked this chapter. If you did too, please review. It is the sunshine that warms my heart.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: There should only be one chapter left after this one

A/N: There should only be one chapter left after this one. I'm sorry that this took so long, this is why I never write chaptered fic's. Also, I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. **Chylea3784, Firehedgehog, JJ Rust, and Emu.** I appreciate it so much! Thank you. Also this chapter references two short story's by LadyJaye1 The M&M's Conspiracy and Another Typical Night. Her fanfic's are wonderful. You should go read them as soon as you finish this! Wink wink

Disclaimer: This is the last time I say I don't own ANY of this.

Re-Think Authority

Chapter Four

A week! If he didn't call or see Dinah in a week she would track him down and kick his ass! For Huntress to call him and ask him to investigate something had to be wrong and Huntress was worried. Really worried. He never thought he'd see (or hear in this case) the day when she sounded so, un-Huntress-like. She was normally so strong and brash. Hearing her on the phone had worried Ollie as well. Something big was up.

_It was late and Ollie was asleep. Or at least, trying to sleep, his cell phone had been ringing almost non-stop for the last thirty minutes. Normally he would have answered it, however, it also would normally have been on his night stand. Normally it would have had a normal phone ring. However, tonight was different. Tonight his phone was in his pants, on his bathroom floor and instead of a normal ring it was playing the theme from X-Files and only one person on his contacts list had that ring, Question. If the phone had been on his night stand he probably would have answered and started cursing, however, since the phone was all the way in the bathroom he had decided to ignore it. After all, he would give up eventually right? That had been his thoughts thirty minutes ago and the blasted theme had yet to cease assaulting his ears. _

_Finally he crawled out from under the covers and walked blindly to the bathroom, stubbing his toe and running into a door on the way there. When he finally reached the phone he flipped it open and snarled "Question, it is four o'clock in the morning, someone better be dying or so help me-" However when the voice on the other end spoke he stopped short. For the voice was not Question in-fact, the voice was a woman._

_"Is this Green Arrow? This is Huntress and I'm calling to ask for a favor." He stood silent for a minute in shock, Huntress? Why did she need a favor from him? "Hello? Arrow, are you there?" He pulled himself from his stupor and managed to finally ask her why exactly she needed a favor from him at four o'clock in the morning_

It hadn't taken long for Huntress to explain the situation and her reasons for coming to Ollie for a favor. Apparently he was Question's only friend at all on the Watchtower. It came as a surprise to him, not just that Question considered him a friend, but that he was the only one. He had always figured that there was at least someone else on the Watchtower that Question didn't mind, but according to Huntress that was a negative. Ollie hadn't thought much about his semi-friendship with Question, after all, he didn't exactly think that counting M&M's and gossiping together while their girlfriends fought really made a friendship. But then again, those might have been the only friendship activities that he had ever seen Question partake in. He never stayed to watch movies on movie night and as far as he could tell he didn't take part in any League sponsored activities. So it wasn't too hard to believe himself Question's friend after all, but the only one? Surely there was at least one other, he thought to himself as he strode towards Question's room on theWatchtower. She had mentioned that he had been acting strange the last time she saw him, well, strangely for him, and that he might have locked himself in his room up here to work without distractions.

As Ollie entered the room though he knew at once that something was wrong. The room was spotless, which wouldn't have meant anything with anyone other than Question. The last time he was here there were papers and files every where on the walls, on the floor and Question's conspiracy connections had taken up two bulletin boards on his walls. Now there were no papers, no news clippings, no string, nothing. The room looked uninhabited. Ollie's eyes narrowed as he took it all in. Something was definitely not right and Huntress had left it to him to figure our what.

He started his investigation with the people that were in the rooms next to Question. His first target was Question's next door neighbor, Stargirl. She answered soon after he knocked on her door in a bathrobe and mask. He made sure to get right to the point, he didn't want any one passing by to get the wrong idea.

"Have you seen Question lately? I need to find him, but despite all my efforts he seems to have disappeared."

She sighed looking exasperated. "I haven't seen the weirdo for at least a week and I don't expect too. I thought Superman had kicked him out of the League. What do you want him for?" He was surprised, Superman kick Question out of the League? Where had she gotten that idea? His confusion must have shown on his face because Stargirl looked gleeful, loving to gossip every that chance she got, at the chance to fill him in on the juicy details. "Well! Rumor has it that Question and Superman got into a very heated argument about a week ago. They were talking in the Big Seven's conference hall and suddenly Question just stormed out. Superman left soon afterwards and he looked pretty shook up. Next thing you know Questions in his room tearing everything off the walls, I saw him doing it myself. He through it all in a trash can in the center of the room and set it on fire! Next thing I know he's storming down to the teleporter and he's gone. No one has seen him since."

This was news to him. Sure he wasn't a major part of the gossip train up here on the tower, but to miss this much information? Why hadn't he heard? Why hadn't Dinah heard? She would have told him if she'd heard of something like this, right? His train of the thought was stopped thought as he heard Stargirl's next words.

"It's probably for the best that he's gone. A lot of us up here think that. I mean, the guys no hero, he's a kook, just look at his 'conspiracy theories'. He gives the League a bad impression, I'm happy he's gone." He stared at her in shock for a moment. Was she serious? Did the League really see him that way? Abruptly he turned on his heel, looked over his shoulder and said, "Theory. Singular." Then he left. He needed to find Superman, and to find him, he would need to talk to J'onn Jonzz.

It wasn't hard to find J'onn. He never seemed to leave the bridge. As Ollie stepped out of the elevator onto the bridge he glanced around to see if Superman was here. He wasn't, but Flash, Supergirl and a few of their friends were, hounding J'onn to send them on a mission. Arrow approached and was greeted by the small group. He made small talk for a while before excusing himself and walking over to talk to J'onn.

"J'onn, is Superman on the Watchtower?" Then he realized, he didn't need to search himself! After all, Question was, hopefully, a member of the League, J'onn could find him from his communicator! "Actually J'onn, can you tell me where Question is?" J'onn looked up a moment later and stated in a slightly surprised tone.

"Superman is currently on Earth, also he himself asked for Question's location a few moments ago." Now Ollie was really confused. Superman was looking for Question too?

"Did he say why he was looking for him," asked Ollie but before J'onn could answer Flash forced himself into the conversation.

"I bet you he's looking for him to collect his comm link and badge! He didn't turn them in when he left." Ollie leveled his gaze at the younger hero.

"And just what makes you think he's been dismissed from the League?"

"Well, his argument with Supes! It rattled them both pretty bad and he destroyed his room. It looks like he got sacked like his girlfriend." However J'onn surprisingly looked confused, apparently being a mind reader didn't mean he was in on all the tower's gossip either.

"I do not know where the rumor started, but the Question has not been fired. He is still a member of the League. Superman would not dismiss someone from the League over a simple disagreement." Ollie was relieved and reassured from the Martian's information, but it didn't explain Question's disappearance. His thoughts were interrupted again though as a familiar voice began speaking from Superman's comm signal, however it wasn't Superman.

"This is Huntress. Two for emergency pick up."

J'onn pressed a button on the console and replied, "You are no longer a member of the Justice League. Clear this channel and-." However Huntress interrupted him.

"Save it! Q is down and we're under fire." Ollie's eyes widened. What had Question gotten himself involved in? "Get us out of here and then scan the area, Superman won't be far behind us." So Superman was with them? How had Huntress gotten in touch with him? Ollie sighed, he didn't really want to know.

A/N: For awhile lets just pretend J'onn doesn't hear everything going on in the Tower, kay. He likes to give people their privacy.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: I said in the last chapter that this would be the last, but I've decided that I shall do a short epilogue as well. I appreciate everyone who reviewed very much, and I hope that the people who didn't review enjoyed the story as well. Thank you for reading. Also, I know that in the episode it just looked like he was bruised. But in my opinion he would have come back in much worse condition.

Re-Think Authority

Chapter Five

**Question**

As Helena dragged him onto the roof he felt a cool breeze blow against his face. It was unexpected, Luthor's power, Helena and Superman's rescue, Captain Atom's betrayal, his apparent survival of his suicide mission. None of these events were supposed to happen, yet, they did. Perhaps he had been wrong, perhaps Luthor wouldn't bring about the apocalypse. However, as he felt Helena's arms wrap around his torso he decided it didn't matter. All that mattered were her gentle fingers stroking his face as she whispered comforting words to her 'baby doll' he knew. He might have been wrong this time, but he had been right before that. He remembered their first date; his statement about her saving him that had made her laugh. He looked up at her then, into her brown eyes that betrayed so much emotion. "I told you," he whispered, "I told you that you would save me." Then their molecules were broken down for transport.

**Helena**

Helena had no idea what exactly had been happening to Q in that room. It had looked as thought he was being tortured with electricity. When she had taken him from Superman some of the electricity had jumped onto her, it still stung. He had small punctures all over his head and torso that were oozing blood, he was covered in bruises and what looked like several scabbed over stab wounds. She had no idea what all had happened to him, all she knew what that her baby doll was in pain, serious pain. He was trying to be brave she knew that. Yet every step they took he was getting heavier, leaning on her more, slowly slipping in and out of the darkness. And as they were transported to the Watchtower it seemed having his molecules torn apart and put back together was the final straw. All his bravery deserted him and he fell to the floor gasping in pain, his muscle's going through spasms from the electrical currents that had been shot through his body.

She saw several hero's standing nearby and on the bridge staring in shock but not moving, with the exception of Green Arrow, Supergirl, and J'onn. As soon as they had appeared J'onn and Kara had flown over, Kara carrying Arrow. "What's wrong with him," Arrow whispered staring in shock at the convulsing form of his friend as Kara dropped him, "What happened." J'onn was kneeling beside Q reaching forward as he spoke.

"The medical team is on the way, while we wait I shall try to see what happened to him." His hand sat on Q's forehead, his eyes closed, and he promptly jerked himself backwards as if dodging a snake. Helena was startled.

"What! What did you see? What did Cadmus do to him?" She didn't miss Arrow's astonished look at the mention of Cadmus but she had no time to explain. J'onn was staring at Q with an extreme mixture of emotions on his alien face, however as he spoke he settled on horror. No one seemed to notice as Superman teleported into the station carrying Captain Atom.

"Cadmus used some sort of mental suggestion technology implanted straight into his brain and nervous system to force him to live out several visions over and over again. It was a situation that terrified him. They knew that and tried to use it to their advantage. They tortured him for days with the visions and electrocution but he didn't reveal any information that they wanted. This is a great relief." Helena snapped he head up at the final comment and practically screamed at the Martian as the medics loaded Q onto a trolley to take to the infirmary.

"What do you mean a relief! He was tortured! How is that a relief?" J'onn shook his head as they followed the trolley.

"No you misunderstand. It is not a relief that he was tortured, but that he bravely withheld all information. Besides Mr. Terrific Batman, and myself The Question is the only member of the Justice League with intimate files on every member of the League. He knows everything, from identities and credit card numbers to the security codes of the Watchtower itself." Helena wasn't surprised; after all, this was her baby doll they were dealing with.

**Ollie**

Ollie on the other hand was shell-shocked. Question knew all that! Did he find all that information in the garbage? He followed the small procession down the hallways thinking. Cadmus, how had Cadmus gotten a hold of him? What had they wanted with him? He couldn't see him anymore, the medical staff was swarming him, wiping off blood and trying to access the injuries under the surface of his skin. Kara was floating behind him gazing at Question with a worried expression on her face. Her friends behind her were breaking apart to add this new information to the gossip train and calling for her to join them but she simply continued to follow Ollie down the hallway.

"Why," she asked suddenly, "Would he do that? It must have been Hell for him, but he didn't break? He had no reason to be loyal to this place, Huntress isn't a league member anymore and everyone up here seems to hate him. Why sacrifice himself like that?"

Ollie stopped and eyed her curiously. "Why do you care so much? You're friends are the main group of Question haters on the tower." Supergirl looked ashamed and sank to the floor dejectedly.

"I know. I feel awful about it. But I worry that my friends will turn on me if I say something. I think the only reason they're my friends in the first place is because I'm Superman's cousin. But I haven't had friends my own age since before my planet was destroyed." Her hands were fidgeting with the half cape she wore now as if she wanted to pull it over her like a blanket and hide. "He's always been so nice to me. He believed me when Galatea was taking over my dreams. He's still nice to me. Even after the way my friends made fun of him." Ollie nodded knowingly.

"That's the way Question is I think. If he labels you as a friend you're his friend, no matter what anyone else does or says. Have you ever seen the way that he talks to Batman? I think he decided Batman was his friend along time ago, I think Batman's been trying to convince him of otherwise the whole time." He eyed Huntress now, right in the middle of the procession despite the medic's arguments holding onto her Q. "I think in a way he thinks of the Watchtower itself as a friend. Even though almost no one here believes his theory or likes him, he would still keep it safe."

By now Question was secured in an infirmary room and medics were rushing around, cleaning wounds and preparing the x-ray machine. Then Huntress stuck her head out the door and yelled to Ollie, "Arrow! Q left one of his coats in his closet. He wants you to go get it and make sure nothing falls out." She eyed Supergirl for a moment as Ollie turned to leave. As he turned the corner he heard behind him, "Are you gonna just stand there or are you gonna help? Hey! Don't bother with the machine. We've got a human x-ray right here!

**A/N:** Okies, all that's left now is the epilogue. I'd like to thank everyone who read and everyone who reviewed. Reading the reviews makes me extremely happy.

Big thanks to **Lady Jaye1**, **Chylea3784**, **Emu**, **JJ Rust** and **Shiva the Sarcastic **for reviewing.


	6. Epilogue

A/N: The final part, I hope everyone had as much fun reading as I had writing. The bold italics is dialog taken directly from the show.

Disclaimer: If I seriously owned Justice League….it wouldn't be fit to show on Cartoon Network.

Re-Think Authority

Epilogue

Helena heard him before she saw him, he was thrashing again. She quickly made her way into the bedroom of her apartment and sighed at the sight that she saw. Vic was chained by bed-sheets and trashing in his sleep to free himself from his inanimate captors. She made her way silently into the room and carefully began unwinding the sheets from the form of her red haired love.

It had been a month since Vic had been captured by Cadmus and tortured mercilessly and two weeks since he had woken up in the Watchtower infirmary screaming at the sight of Superman. Needless to say, it took little convincing after that incident that Vic would heal much faster if he stayed with her in her apartment. After all, having Vic almost send the tower out of orbit was expensive enough that Batman had decided to back her on her decision, just this once.(1)

As his tossing slowly died down she lay down beside him and gently stroked the side of his face, as she became lost in thought. 'What had he seen,' she wondered, 'what terrible evils had they shown him that they tormented him still?' She remembered his conversation with Superman before Luthor took control of the Watchtower. Vic had been scared, he didn't show it his voice was as concealed as usual, but she could tell. The way his tone changed, the way his voice rose, he had been scared then. Scared of Superman.

_ She knew what he wanted the second he entered the room and was completely prepared to use every means necessary to keep he from it before Q spoke, "It's okay Helena." She looked at him, he wasn't used to hiding his expressions from her and she saw the small glimmer of fear before he hid it behind his mask. She'd seen it before when she and Q watched Victor Sage on the Hub City News in his apartment. He'd always criticized the man heavily on his repots, what he could have added to make it better, she never thought that it had been self evaluation. _

_ She glared at Superman as she left and told him he only had five minutes. As she strolled down the hallway she pulled out the receiver for the bug she had placed in Q's coat and placed it in her ear before settling in to listen. Superman spoke first._

_**"What happened Question? How did Cadmus get a hold of you?"**_

_**"I went to kill Luthor so that you wouldn't be able to."**_

_ Helena took this all in stride, it made sense. The one thing she hadn't been able to figure out was how, how had Cadmus captured her Q and now she knew._

_**"That's not how we do things."**_

_**"How do we do things Superman? Your counterpart killed Luthor, this Luthor is scheming to enrage you-"**_

_**"Doing a pretty good job of it."**_

_**"Ruining your reputation, turning your friends and comrades against you, creating a super-powered arms race! But you cannot succumb." **__His tone was lower now, with a sense of an implied threat. _

_**"I can shut down Cadmus without killing Luthor."**_

_**"Carry on then, if your wrong, it's not like it's the end of the world right." **__She could almost see Superman shifting uncomfortably under the stare she imagined Q must be giving him now. Pretty soon he was going to find a way to change the subject, probably to Q's attempt at murder._

_"I see you didn't learn anything from your girlfriends mistakes, attempted murder is a quick way to get yourself kicked out of the league." Bingo._

_ However, she didn't expect Q's reply, it made her blood run cold and she felt like her heart had stopped. "I never expected to make it back in the first place. I had tied up all my loose ends. Set up to have copies of my work sent to people who would appreciate it and continue it if I did not return. I had even said goodbye to Helena, although she didn't know it. She never would have let me go"_

_ He had said goodbye? When? She would have known right, if he had uttered a goodbye so final? She couldn't remember one, so it must have been when she couldn't hear, when she was asleep. She directed her attention back to the man who was going to be in BIG trouble when he was recovered as he continued._

_"Besides, you can't kick me out. I'm too much of a liability, if I'm not under the protection of the Justice League who knows who could take me and try to force that ever so valuable information out of my head. But then there would be no rescue coming for me, the league would never even know I was gone. Arrow would have no reason to associate with me anymore, so Helena wouldn't have any ties here and I doubt your pal Jimmy is going to let himself get caught like that again. You can't afford to get rid of me, I'm sure Batman will agree if you ask him."_

_ Even though she was still angry with him Helena couldn't help but smile with pride as she heard Superman huff and storm out of the room. Why was it that no one saw the brilliance of this man?_

Batman had agreed, Question had not been kicked out of the league and Superman had declared the information classified, the same day that the gossip train left the station. The official explanation was that Supergirl had heard and confided the information in Green Arrow, who accidentally slipped and spilled to Black Canary who just happened to invite Stargirl to go with her to lunch the next day and after that the train took off. From the information that Arrow gave her, the tower was greatly divided, several members were changing their opinions of Question based on what he had endured and not broken. The other half decided that this clenched the fact that he was loony and needed to be shipped off to an asylum.

As he slipped back into peaceful dreams she brushed her fingers over his temple and into his red hair. Vic, Victor Sage, Q, Question. All of his names felt good as they slipped from her mouth. Q and Question rolling off her tongue while Vic and Victor sounded sharp. She liked all of his names she decided, they were beautiful, different. So very much like him.

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A/N: The end. I'd like to thank everyone who read, reviewed and/or placed my story on their alerts or favorites list! I hope that everyone enjoyed the story.

Thanks for reading!

(1) The ultimate reason why Question was allowed to stay with Helena instead of the infirmary. Superman tried to wake him from a nightmare and seeing him upon waking Q went into another fit. He managed to escape the infirmary and evade capture believing he had been transported into the world of his nightmares. He ended up in the still being repaired Javelin bay and caused an explosion that almost sent the tower out of orbit.


End file.
